In most cities and towns throughout the world, advertisements are strategically placed alongside city and highway roads to be readily viewed by motorists and pedestrians. Such advertisements are typically presented using billboards. However, other types of billboards are also used (for example, mobile billboards and even human billboards), as are other types of advertising media including wall paintings. Increasingly, digital signs are replacing traditional signs due to the ease of updating the content displayed thereon, the ability to present more sophisticated advertisements (for example, advertisements including animated graphics and even three-dimensional content), the ever-increasing cost, time delay, and inconvenience of distributing printed material, etc.
It has been proposed to use displays in conjunction with traffic signals for advertising purposes. However, conventional approaches have many drawbacks that have prevented any type of widespread use of such an advertising method. For example, existing circuit configurations used to realize cooperation between a display and a traffic signal are complicated and expensive. Moreover, a time-consuming and difficult set-up process is often required. Additionally, the content stored in conventional displays used in conjunction with traffic signals is difficult to update.
From the point of view of advertisers, such lack of widespread use is unfortunate because the advertising real estate associated with traffic signals represents significant potential to reach large and captive audiences. From the point of view of government agencies, a potentially significant source of revenue remains untapped. Many commuters would also appreciate the respite from the boredom and frustration associated with waiting at a red light that would be provided by displaying content at traffic signals.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.